Delicate Footsteps
by unreachabledream
Summary: Naruto didn't acknowledge the arts. Naruto refused but was dragged to see a ballet recital with Neji. But after seeing her in her amazing debut performance, he had a new appreciation for the art of ballet. He also expressed immediate interest in the girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. **

**Wow! this took a while to write, i was going to make it a one shot, but i got so enveloped in the story and i kept on adding things along the way. (haha) I put hard work into this. So i hope you guys enjoy it! This is my first NaruHina story. NaruHina is my OTP. Initially i found that writing about them is hard. I can't believe i started with SasuSaku first! (haha). I used to do ballet when i was little. I wish I kept up with a lot of things when i was little. :( This is AU. Contains minor SasuSaku & NejiTen. **

* * *

"Neji! Tell me again, why do I have to go with you to this stupid recital?" said the complaining boy with piercing blue eyes.

Neji coolly responded in a low confirming tone. "Because you owe me, Naruto."

Konoha in the fall was a beautiful sight to be hold. It wasn't too hot or too cold and the breeze was very gentle. The fresh autumn air was calming; there was always something about the fall. Leaves fell to the ground with such grace, that it flowed, just like a delicate dance.

"And my cousin is performing tonight as the lead role."

"Geez! Couldn't Tenten go with you instead?! It's so weird for two guys to go to a ballet show together!"

Neji then sighed lightly at Naruto's complaining. He was not going to let Naruto bail at the last second. However, Neji slightly did agree with Naruto about two men going to a ballet recital together was kind of weird. Neji just shrugged it off.

To be honest, Neji didn't want to go alone. He did initially thought of Tenten- but she worked backstage. His second choice was his semi-rival, trustworthy, loud, highly enthusiastic friend, Rock Lee, but decided he didn't want to deal with his 'man tears' and was afraid that he may yell something about 'youth' and 'power' during his cousin's debut performance. Neji then decided he was just going to alone when he spotted his good friend at the convenience store. Knowing Naruto for his brash behavior, he thought he'd do his friend a favor by seeing a ballet dance performance at its most passionate peak. It was also convenient because Naruto owed him one.

"First, Tenten is working at the theater as part of the stage crew, and second, _Naruto_" -Neji said with much emphasis on his name- "you may just learn and appreciate the art of classical dancing such as ballet"

Naruto winced at the emphasis that Neji put on his name. The two friends continued their walk towards the theater. Neji was stepping on the dried leave where as Naruto was kicking the yellow and auburn leaves aside.

"But why ballet?! Its soooo boring! I might just fall asleep!" said the whining blond.

Neji just sighed and closed his eyes for a brief second. He didn't want to argue with Naruto. Sometimes he wondered how they became friends in the first place. He then adjusted his scarf in annoyance.

* * *

Naruto totally forgot about owing Neji. He had seen Neji at the convenience store one last Saturday and had approached him with his full basket of instant ramen hanging lazily on his fingers. How stupid he could have been! He had only wanted greet his dear friend only to say 'hi! It's been a while, what have you been up to?' But Naruto didn't even get a chance to say it; he merely opened his mouth and had quickly shut it. _That face, he saw that face. _He saw Neji's sly expression and had wished that he never approached him. There was no avoiding it.

The first thing Neji had said was, "Naruto, its good to see you. You seem to remember that you owe me… and therefore you are accompanying me to a ballet recital, no exceptions"

Before Naruto had got a chance to protest, Neji was already gone.

"Damn it!" was the only thing he exclaimed afterwards, knowing that the chances of getting out of it were slim.

He dreaded this! A man would rather be watching manly sports! Not ballet! He made fun of guys who wore tutus (and prancing around like fairies) –if that's what they wore…He wasn't sure.

* * *

The two friends continued to walk to the theater in silence, body languages different. Neji had his hands in his coat pocket while looking forward, thinking his thoughts on his dear cousin. Naruto on the other hand he kept his bright blue eyes kept on the ground and had a slight slouch in his posture in his walk. Naruto was not looking forward to this, and there was no way to get out of it.

Naruto spoke "I hope your cousin isn't a guy… because that would be disturbing."

Neji sighed.

"No, she is a female." Neji paused then continued "but the performance is going to include men."

"Men actually enjoy _doing _and _practicing _ballet?!"

Neji sighed again. "Yes."

Neji then tried to compare it to Naruto's favorite sport, soccer. "Naruto, it's like this every sport is an art. Take soccer for example, do you think it's a form of art?"

"Yeah, of course it is! It involves strategy and training and hard work!" Naruto had no idea why Neji was comparing this to soccer. Ballet and soccer were not the same!

"Well, same with ballet it takes much required skill and training just like any other sport. It involves fluid movements of precision to the human body. Same with soccer, it involves accuracy and precision and endurance."

Naruto still stared at his feet, one always walking in front of the other. Right, left, right, left. He was listening. He didn't think about it in _that _way. Neji continued –

"Both arts (or sports) risk injury due to the intensity of training alone, being a ballet dancer requires more than just twirling and jumping, and soccer involves more than just kicking the ball around the field. Both involve foot work."

"…" Naruto was lost in thought, listening to Neji's words while mind framing the image of soccer players and ballet dancers working hard. He wasn't successful. He imagined soccer players on the field twirling and jumping around in tutus. He mentally shuddered.

Neji hoped his little speech helped, but it _was_ Naruto. His blue eyed friend was probably imagining soccer players dancing around in a soccer field.

"Naruto, just go in this with an open mind and you may just enjoy it"

Naruto just let out a low 'hmph'

Naruto was always mysterious about Neji. Neji had a calm collective nature about him.

To this day he still doesn't know why they are friends. Naruto was loud and brash. Total opposites. He had met Neji through Rock Lee, while they were having lunch together at a popular ramen stand downtown. Naruto had compared himself to his other good friend, Lee and they were about on the same level. Yeah of course, Rock Lee had his moments of strangeness, but he was still his friend and surprisingly Neji's too. Maybe Neji had a fetish for loud friends? He didn't know, but he cherished his friendships no matter what kind of person he or she was.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when Neji spoke.

"Were here"

"This is the line?! B-but it's so long! We won't get in! I never thought ballet shows were _this_ popular!"

"Naruto, don't worry about the line. I've got front row tickets and its only 7:15. The show starts at 8" Neji then pulled out two front row tickets from his inside coat pocket. Naruto tried to grab one, but Neji held on to those tickets with a vice tight grip. He knew that the minute Naruto grabbed on to one of those tickets, he would run and would run very very far. He didn't want to risk it. Naruto _was_ going to make it inside with him.

Naruto then was about to say something when Neji interjected.

The brown haired man resumed "It takes time for everyone to get seated, and that's why were just on time." He shot his friend a sharp look. Seriously, his friend was starting to get on his last nerve.

Both waited in the agonizing slow moving line to the front of the theater. Just when they were getting closer to the front, Naruto, noticed a pink blob of hair at the ticket booth with the guy on her arm. She was recognizable because he'd been crushing on her all though high school, but it deemed hopeless. He hadn't seen her in a few years. Naruto happened to notice that she was linking arms with Sasuke – who was on the same soccer team with himself and Lee.

"!" Neji saw the blond's sudden expression of surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"I just saw Sasuke with Sakura! And, and they were linking arms! –that bastard,_ that bastard_! He said he wasn't seeing anyone!"

Neji slightly smirked, "Why are you so concerned? Do you have a_ thing _for him?"

"NO! God NO Neji! We were just talking about our 'statuses' the other day and he lied! He _said_ he was single"

Neji just nodded his head side to side, his friend was an idiot.

"I don't see why you are into other people's relationships, Naruto. Maybe it could be that you are feeling a bit lonely, so you would feel better if your friends were also single."

Well damn. Neji hit it on the spot. Neji had a thing for reading people and being very blunt when he spoke of his thoughts. It was a unique gift; sometimes bad, sometimes good. In this case: bad. Naruto was now silent and suddenly _wanted_ to see the show. He hated Neji for a minute for seeing right through him, he didn't want anyone to know that he was feeling a bit lonely.

Neji noticed this and just mumbled 'sorry' to the blond. Naruto didn't say anything.

Dispite his lack of interest for ballet, Naruto came to the conclusion that it was better to go and see the show, spend time with a friend, rather than do nothing at his home.

His head was hanging down; bright blue eyes were eyeballing the hard gray concrete of a sidewalk that was painted in used and chewed gum. He felt bad for the pieces of scrapped gum; they were bound to the hard concrete forever. He also noticed the pieces of gums were in pairs, which just made Naruto more melancholy. He then tried to shove the piece of gum with his brown dress shoes, but didn't succeed. They stayed glued.

-

Naruto and Neji were now the second ones in line. This was when Naruto noticed the poster beside the door. "_Chujo-hime and the Spirit of her Wicked Stepmother_*****" So this was the name of the dance and story they would soon witness. He looked away and began to walk back to Neji. Suddenly, his head suddenly snapped back at the poster. It was the second time that he looked at the poster. It was in that moment that he caught eye of a girl, no a_ woman_, who was absolutely beautiful. Her hair was a dark midnight blue and her eyes, her eyes displayed so much emotion. He couldn't put a finger on it, but those eyes seemed awfully familiar. She looked so sad yet so graceful. Just by looking at that poster he suddenly felt a ting of _something _like, like they were connected somehow; he didn't know what it was. He stared at the poster as if he were studying every detail whilst engraving her lovely solemn face in his mind. He didn't know how long he was staring at her milky white face but it seemed like it felt like an eternity, even if it was only a few seconds at the least. Was she the main character?

Neji had noticed that Naruto was staring at his cousins face on that poster for about a minute or two. Neji had observed Naruto's face, it was like he was in trance, or in deep concentration.

That's when Neji nudged at the blonds arm. "Come on, they already took our ticket stubs"

The two walked to their designated seats. Neji was in front of Naruto.

Naruto and Neji had passed Sasuke and Sakura on the way to their seats. Naruto and Sasuke met each others eyes for a split second, both giving each other a 'why are you here?!' look.

---

"This is it, these are our seats"

Naruto noticed where they were sitting, front and center.

"Neji, do you have connections or something? Looks like we got the best seats here"

Didn't he just say that Tenten worked backstage and his cousin was the lead character?  
It was amazing how dense Naruto was.

Both stripped of their coats, it was now twenty 'til eight. Neji pulled out an orchid (with the transparent sheet that was carefully protecting the single orchid) from the inside of his coat. He Naruto noticed this – and knowing a bit about plants, the orchid meant –_delicate beauty_. But who was it for? He wondered. Putting the orchid and his coat aside, Naruto and Neji, sat down in their red cushiony seats.

Neji spoke "So you noticed the poster?"

Naruto nodded.

"That was my cousin on that poster; she's playing the main character."

No wonder those eyes looked so familiar! Why hadn't he seen it before! Was he _that_ dense? Neji and his cousin had the same eyes, but Neji's eyes did seem a bit colder than hers.

"What's her name?" the blue eyed lad asked out of curiosity.

"Her name?"

"Yeah"

"Her name is Hinata"

After hearing her name for the first time, Naruto repeated her name. Her name rolled off his tongue in a slow and smooth matter. Surprisingly it was very easy the way her name came off his tongue, and he liked it.

"H i - n a - t a" softly spoken by the cerulean blue eyed man while staring at the stage.

Neji quirked his left eyebrow at him, but Naruto didn't seem to notice.

The clock hit eight, and the lights started to dim inside the theater, melting the red blood seats into a midnight black. The red curtain on stage began to shine as the lights in the back faded brighter.

When the main character, Chūjō-hime*****, appeared onstage, Naruto was lost in amazement from beginning to end, keeping his bright blue eyes locked on Hinata the whole time.

"She's beautiful" he said in a mere whisper. Hinata's hair was up in a tight bun, her bangs hanging just a little below her eyebrows. She was wearing light make up. Her initial outfit was made of whites, blues, and purples. Her ballet shoes were a baby blue.

She went through several costumes during the performance, and she looked absolutely astonishing. At one point during the show, Hinata's hair had gone from a bun to being completely being set loose. Her hair glowed against the bright stage lights, and framed her face just perfectly.

Naruto was so engaged and into the performance that he was on the edge of his seat, literally. It amazed him the way ballet dancers moved, they looked so graceful. There was so much emotion during the recital, from sadness to anger to enlightenment; surprisingly he paid attention the whole time. He was afraid to blink, thinking that he might have missed something. By astonishment he didn't know how people could actually get _that_ flexible.

Naruto was sitting at the edge of his seat, ridged and stiff as a board, busy trying to keep up with the storyline. His elbows were on his knees and his fingers on both hands were laced together in front of his mouth, chewing a nail.

Whilst watching Hinata perform with an intense gaze, Naruto swore that they made eye contact for a milli of a second. His heart swelled. What was this feeling?

Naruto threw out all his previous biased opinions about ballet. He was engulfed and completely enchanted by the performance. It truly was an art. Ballet was truly an art. He was beginning to have a new appreciation for dance.

Neji on the other hand, watched in silence completely enveloped by such elegance and grace that surrounded the story. He was really, _really_, sincerely proud of his cousin and his face showed it.

---

Two hours later, the performance had finally ended and the audience was left in awe. Surprisingly to Neji, Naruto was the last person he'd expect to give and initiate a standing ovation. People started to follow his actions and soon enough the whole theater was giving a standing ovation; cheering and clapping at the incredible performance.

An encore was made several minutes later. Hinata was located smack dab in the middle of the cast line, boasting a big smile. She had succeeded at her first debut performance as a lead character. Her and her fellow cast members bowed and said their 'thank yous' to the satisfied audience.

Hinata noticed her cousin in the front row. She smiled for him and she pointed to the back. Just when Neji nodded, Naruto let out a loud whistle, the kind that involved your thumb and index finger. This got Hinata's attention. They caught eyes, and she shifted her eyes to the left in embarrassment. A fellow cast member had caught what had happened and whispered in her ear about the blue eyed boy. Hinata giggled and brought up her right hand to her mouth covering it.

Naruto noticed this and just smiled at her, the smile was just for her. She was adorable.

Naruto did not mind staring at her beauty. She seemed so far away and yet so near. He was afraid that he may never get to see her again. The only way was to see her perform again and again. There was just _something_ about this girl who he never officially met. At this point he forgot about Neji being with him. He also forgot that Neji and Hinata were related.

The cast was now walking off stage. Hinata was laughing the whole time. She truly looked happy in the moment.

Neji looked at the brief interaction between his cousin on stage and his friend standing next to him. He was quirking his eyebrow the whole time, looking at Naruto then to Hinata. Naruto didn't notice his existence at all. Neji called Naruto's name several times.

"Naruto… Naruto… NARUTO!" that snapped him out of it.

Reality was snapped back into place. Naruto just looked at Neji.

"Come on, follow me" Neji said while collecting his coat and flower. Naruto did the same but no flower in tow. He stood there dumbfounded for a second and proceeded to follow.

During the midst and clattering of people getting out of the theater, Naruto raised his voice –

"Where we going?"

"To the back"

"Why? Shoudn't we be going the other way, where we came in? The show is over with"

"I know that, were going to see Hinata"

Naruto whispered her name. As soon he realized he was going to see her, he smiled a smile that would please the Heavens. While Neji just rolled his eyes.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this as much as i wrote it!please R&R let me know what you think!  
**

***While trying to figure out what the recital should be i came across Cinderella. Cinderella was also made into a ballet. Surprisingly there are many forms of Cinderella. I came across a Japanese Cinderella type and thought it was interesting if that was made into a ballet. For more information you can look it up on Wikipedia. I just went off of what was on wikipedia (lol) Here is the address:**

** .org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABj%C5%8D-hime **

**just copy and paste into your web browser.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclamer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 2 - The meet.

Hello all! It took me forever to write this chapter, because i came to a road block. College has been keeping me busy too and i'm getting braces soon, I already have my spacers in and they are a hurtin'! lol. I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter. :/ I'm still new at writing fics! but thank you to those who read and review! and thank you for being patient!

Anyway please enjoy!

* * *

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Naruto scoffed to one of the random crew members backstage when the guy 'accidentally' bumped into him. He had almost lost sight of Neji once they walked through the door leading backstage. He had kept his sight on Neji's head and tried hard to keep his blue eyes there, he didn't want to risk getting lost or kicked out.

There were so many people going off in different directions, backstage looked chaotic and dangerous. People from the stage crew, the staff, and dancers were everywhere. Naruto was fascinated on how much work was put into the performance, if it was this chaotic _after_ the show, he couldn't and wouldn't dare imagine the before and during process.

Neji suddenly stopped squeezing through the crowd when he spotted someone. A couple seconds later, Naruto caught up with his brown haired friend. Observing the scene, Naruto noticed the reason why Neji stopped shoving through the pack of people, he ran into Tenten.

"Neji!" Naruto called while reaching out to his right shoulder.

"Just one minute Naruto" Neji responded

The cerulean eyed boy waited impatiently. He was anxious and wanted to hurry and meet Hinata. Naruto was about to say something back to Neji, but kept his loud mouth shut, and thought about just running off, but decided that that would be a bad idea and continued to be shoved and pushed around like a sack of potatoes.

--

Neji gave Tenten a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Have you seen Hinata? Neji asked the girl in buns all dressed in black.

Tenten then made a gesture pointing down the hall, "She should be down the hall to the right, she's probably changing though" She answered.

There was a brief pause when someone bumped into her, she then continued. "Are you coming out with us tonight? There's an after party when the chaos is over"

"Of course"

"Neji, Sorry but I have to run and take care of helping out with the others. I'll see you after okay?"

Neji nodded and turned around to where Hinata was located. Neji suddenly felt a hand on his left wrist. He turned back around and was caught off guard when Tenten suddenly gave him a quick peck on his cheek. She smiled briefly when someone abruptly called her name.

She yelled, "I'm coming!"

During the interaction between Neji and Tenten, Naruto observed with annoyance. He stood there with a childish look on his face, his arms were crossed and his foot was rapidly tapping the floor. Naruto displaying envy – _no way._ Not him.

Neji decided to ignore Naruto's childish behavior. The two men continued to shove through the heavy crowd and carried on to where Hinata was.

-

Maybe it was just him, but Naruto was feeling a bit hot. Whist walking through the crowded hallway he adjusted his collar unconsciously a couple of times. Was it the body heat of everyone around him? Or was it his anxiety and nervousness getting in the way knowing that in a few minutes, no that few seconds, that he was going to meet the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Why was he so nervous? He was _Uzumaki Naruto_ for goodness sake! He didn't get _nervous. _He was made of steel. Hah. Right.

Neji approached the already opened door to the makeup/changing room with Naruto standing to his left. Many of the dancers were already finishing up, one approached Neji greeting him and completely ignoring his blond friend.

"You're not supposed to be here, although you are quite cute… I'll make an acceptation" the girl smirked. She continued, "who ya lookin' for?"

Neji looked down at the girl, she looked very young, he predicted still in high school. Neji coolly responded with his smooth voice that made any female melt, "Hinata, We're looking for Hinata"

The girl looked at him indecorously, "ohh~" She then abruptly yelled loudly though the heavy noise, "HINATA! HINATA! Someone's here for you!" And with that she went back disappeared within the crowd of dancers.

Hinata's voice was then heard in the distance, "Coming!"

---

Hinata was halfway through her shirt when she saw her cousin Neji. She shoved the shirt down hastily over her white under -spaghetti strap- shirt. She smiled.

"Neji!"

The two cousins greeted each other with a warming hug. Neji was more like an older overprotective brother to Hinata and both shared a close bond. That close bond, however, wasn't always there, not in the beginning at least.

Neji returned the smile to his cousin, he placed his hands on her shoulders, "You were phenomenal tonight, Hinata, I'm very proud and I'm sure your mother would be too" After complimenting his cousin he pulled the single orchid from out of his coat pocket.

"For you"

"Thank you, Neji-nii, it's beautiful" She took her index finger and outlined one of the pedals and then raised the delicate flower to her nose to give it a whiff. She briefly paused when she heard an enthusiastically sounding cough in the background. She looked up at the source and was taken aback when she saw that the man who had coughed, supported blond hair and bright blue eyes. It was the same guy in the front row that was sat next to Neji.

Neji noticed that Hinata's attention was shifted to his blonde friend and introduced them to each other "Oh my apologies, Hinata this is Naruto, Naruto – Hinata"

Naruto extended his hand to the midnight haired dancer. Hinata extended her hand shyly to Naruto, her own eyes creep-ed up slowly and looked into his piercing bright blue orbs.

--

During his seemingly long handshake with Hinata, he noticed several things about her.

Naruto first noticed how soft her hands were compared to his slightly calloused hands. Her hands were amazingly soft and delicate. Second, he noticed how his hand almost completely covered her small petite hand. Third, he noticed how their skin contrasted complimentary against each other, her pale milky white skin against his well sun-tanned hand. Fourth, he had to think he was crazy, because he noticed how perfectly their hands just molded into each other, just like a missing puzzle piece.

The minute that Naruto looked into Hinata's odd eyes, he felt like he was under, he felt his eyes glaze over, and he was captivated. There was just _something_ about this girl. He didn't quite know what it was, but he was determined to find out. There may not be an explanation for everything, the fun part in all this was figuring out a mystery and Hinata was a mystery. She intrigued him. He wanted to get to know this girl. Both released each other's hand at the same time and right away Naruto looked away, trying not to give the impression on what _he _felt. He also didn't want it to be awkwardly weird either. Just then Hinata spoke.

She looked at her cousin, _trying_ to ignore the intensity of Naruto's presence, "Are you two coming to the after party?" she asked, while fidgeting with her fingernail.

Neji nodded.

"Okay, u-um, just meet me and Tenten out the b-back door. I'll be there in a few minutes, I have to get my things t-together" With this, she turned her back, and walked back into the room with haste.

--

Waiting outside for the girls in the cold breeze, Neji spontaneously decided to ask Naruto.

Neji's gray orbs slowy shifted to his friend, "Interested in Hinata, Naruto?" He cautiously read Naruto's body language. During the brief introduction to his cousin, he observed and was prepared to act upon Naruto's actions. Naruto was always talking but he really didn't say anything but a mere hello to Hinata. Strange. Maybe she had that effect on people…? It was usually Naruto that made people talk.

Naruto took a few seconds to process Neji's words. Naruto's reaction was unexpected.

"What?! N-n-no! I'm not interested…I just met her! Why would I be interested?!" He started to freak, why? just because it _was _Neji.

"So you are interested, don't deny it, Naruto"

Naruto gathered all the air he could breathe in and let out a heavy sigh, "I'd just like to get to know her, she's just really pretty, beautiful even and talented! Hell, she's not even in my league"

Neji glared; maybe it was a mistake to bring Naruto to the ballet. Naruto became interested in Hinata. With this, Neji deeply sighed, adjusted his scarf, and put his hands into his brown coat.

Neji spoke with a steady tone, "She is my cousin, I consider her like my sister, you do understand?" Neji felt obligated to protect Hinata at all costs. Family came first before friends. The thought of Naruto and his cousin together was cringing. Naruto wasn't the smartest guy out there, he was loud and brash the total opposite of his shy, quiet, calm cousin.

"Yeah" The blond said understandingly.

Neji's eyes shot to Naruto's blue ones "No funny antics, Uzumaki, one dirty look and you can say hello to _my fist_" It was amazing how Neji sounded so calm but threatening, saying the whole sentence in one stern solid tone. When the words 'my fist' came out of Neji's mouth it stuck out more like a thorn of a dangerous plant. With this, Naruto inwardly cringed; he definitely wouldn't try anything funny.

After the brief conversation, well.. threat. Hinata emerged from the double doors behind the theater. She looked at the two men, first her eye's quickly flickered to Naruto, then to Neji.

"Ready?" Hinata was wearing a long white coat that went down to her mid thigh. She was also supporting a light purple scarf that was loosely surrounding her slender neck. She wore simple blue jeans with flat black 'ballet' shoes with bows on them. She carried a small wallet/mini purse around her wrist and she was holding that orchid in her other hand.

"Where's Tenten?" Neji asked curiously while he was searching behind Hinata.

"She said she'll meet us there, the stage crew is still cleaning up." Hinata read Neji's face.

"She _also _said n-not to wait for her; she'll meet us there s-soon enough"

Naruto spoke up, "So… where is this place at? For the after party"

Hinata walked up to her cousin and Naruto eventually passing the both of them, leading the two, "Lets walk" The trio started walking down the paved sidewalk.

"It's not far, j-just a few blocks down the street"

Neji and Hinata were mostly instep, talking about various things. Naruto was trailing behind them, listening to their conversation, with a pout.

--

Tenten finally showed up to the gathering. She was busy socializing with Neji.

There was food and drinks all around. The ballet had just started their season and this was to celebrate both the start of the season and the success of the performance, and to celebrate Hinata's first lead role.

People from all over were present, from distinguished guests to the backstage crew to the production, all were laughing, socializing, dancing, singing and having a good time. The DJ played different genres of music, most was up beat. It was just an all around good time.

Naruto was sitting on one of the couches, drinking a beer, enjoying the atmosphere. Neji was busy talking to Tenten and Hinata was off socializing with her peers.

Naruto caught Hinata in the distance, busy socializing to her friend -- who had beach blonde hair – the one from the changing room who obviously said something, and Hinata started laughing.

Hinata had a beautiful smile, shy but pretty.

Naruto was contently watching when all of a sudden a guy literally swept her off her feet on to the dance floor. Her face for a split second yelled panic, and then she noticed it was only her dance partner.

Naruto felt a ping in his chest. As he sat there on the sofa, he unconsciously gripped the brown tinted glass beer bottle. _She isn't yours, calm down, Naruto._ _He's only her dance partner._ After reassuring himself that the guy was only Hinata's ballet dance partner, the guy made a swift movement and moved his lips very closely to Hinata's left ear.

All around Hinata was surprised, the guy obviously had one too many, and definitely wasn't flattering. The guy was just way too into Hinata's kindness got in the way of saying no, so she continued to dance with him, that is, until she felt a different pair of hands pry her away from him during the twirl.

Hinata 'eeped' at the surprise of changing dance partners. She looked up at the culprit and just let out a slight shocked 'oh' from her pink lips when she laid her eyes on cerulean ones. Plastered on Naruto's face laid a huge smirk, revealing his perfect white pearls. Naruto suddenly twirled Hinata unexpectedly which almost made her trip on her own two feet, which wasn't common when it came to dancing.

During the twirl with her new dance partner, Hinata had momentarily caught a glance of her previous dance partner, who was obviously upset. She gave him an apologetic look and mouthed a silent _sorry_ to the poor man – well not so poor man.

"Hi" Naruto was the first one to speak. Of course the slight alcohol in his system did give him a confidence boost.

Hinata just merely responded "Hi" back to Naruto. She didn't know what to say, here she was standing, no, _dancing_ with this beautiful man right in front of her and she was lost for words. However, in Hinata's mind there was a different story. Her mind was drowning fast in her thoughts almost like running in a marathon.

_What am I doing? I barely know this man, and I let him 'steal' me away! But, his eyes, those eyes are hypnotizing, so intense so full of warmth. Urgh! Snap out of it Hinata!. B-but, He's beautiful, his smile is so gorgeous! _She mentally sighed _I might as well give in, after all, he isn't that bad of a dancer either. _

Hinata questioned his motives and looked right into his bright blue orbs, "Naruto-san, w-why did you do that?"

Once she asked that curious-based question, Naruto smirked and matched her intensity, "because…" and he paused, he really didn't have a solid reason and he couldn't just come out and say that he was jealous of her co-worker, or that he just merely felt like he was overlooked, or he thought that he might as well try to take a shot and talk to a beautiful girl. Naruto was about to continue his answer when all of a sudden, Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, Naruto turned his head around to look at the unwanted visitor.

Thinking it was Hinata's previous dancing partner coming back to give him a peace of his mind. Naruto opened his mouth with the intention of saying something rude. Once he realized who it was he stopped himself from saying something he would regret. Why? Because it was Neji, and he did not want to unintentionally get on Neji's bad side.

Neji gave him a solid glare, being the overprotective cousin he was, before speaking.

"Tenten and I are leaving to go get something to eat… Hinata you're well to come join us"

"What about me?!" Again, Naruto quickly came to a conclusion.

Neji let out a stressed out sigh "I wouldn't just leave you out, Naruto. It's rude. You're coming too."

"We'll meet outside in five minutes, Hinata, take this time to say good night to your peers"

Hinata nodded and left to go say goodbye to her fellow dancers and to go gather her things.

Meanwhile, Tenten, Neji and Naruto waited patiently for Hinata in the dark cool breeze outside.

"So… where are we going to go eat at?" Naruto asked curiously.

Tenten answered Naruto's question indecisively, "I'm hungry for anything at this point, but I prefer something that is not expensive"

"It's late so most of the places are probably closed"

So the three pondered for a good 5 minutes on where to eat. Naruto then broke the silent pondering thoughts.

"Why don't we just ask Hinata where she wants to eat?…It's her night, let her choose."

"Aw! Naruto that's very thoughtful! Sounds like a good idea!" Tenten expressed. She was also impressed that he was being thoughtful because whenever Neji brought Naruto up in a conversation it was always negative on how Naruto was loud, big mouthed and obnoxious.

However, Neji just gave him a slight glare, "Since none of us can't decide… I suppose your right"

It was late so the options on where to eat were limited. There were a couple of places Naruto knew, well, one place he knew- Ichiraku Ramen. Most of the expensive places were probably closed anyway. He didn't want to mention it though because people –well, mainly his friends- were saying he had an obsession with ramen and questioned his health.

--

It took Hinata about ten to fifteen minutes to say goodbye to her peers, there were just so many people to say good night to, who once again, congratulated her on her stunning performance. As she rushed, at the last minute she grabbed 2 pamphlets and signed them. She planned to give one to her cousin and one to Naruto.

She checked the time, and she realized that she kept Tenten, Neji, and Naruto waiting. She hoped they weren't upset at her. As she busted through the back door she was greeted with a strong cool breeze that made her freshly combed midnight locks tangle with the wind. She then spotted the trio.

"Sorry I'm late! Where are we going to eat?" She asked exasperatingly .

Neji answered her question with a genuine smile, "Your choice, whatever you want"

"Okay, then um, how about…ramen?"

Just then Naruto's ears suddenly perked up. Not only he was surprised that he was finally going to have his ramen, but it was also the fact that _Hinata_ had chosen ramen. A talented gorgeous woman like Hinata picking his favorite food of choice was rare. This had to be luck.

--

The late dinner or early breakfast went smoothly; the four talked, laughed and learned new things about each other. Naruto and Tenten kept on complimenting Hinata's performance. Hinata also explained in detail about the play on what it was about. Her cousin, Tenten and Naruto displayed great interest.

Hinata was particularly surprised when the owner, Teuchi, and his daughter Ayame knew Naruto quite well; no wonder Naruto mentioned Ichiraku Ramen right off the bat when she mentioned ramen. Teuchi, mentioned that Naruto was a daily customer, and with being a daily customer also came with its perks.

Naruto had mentioned that it was the Ballet's season opening, and that Hinata was the star of the night. Teuchi made an offer to Hinata telling her that she could have anything she liked, whether it was on or off the menu, which was on the house. Hinata took the offer and had told Teuchi that it was very generous and kind of him. However, unfortunately the rest of the three had to pay. Naruto tried to get a free meal, trying every excuse out of the book on why _he _deserved a free meal. One of them being that he recommended "this small and homey ramen shop" The owner simply replied "Naruto how would I make any business if I allow four hungry mouths, oh three hungry mouths to run away free? Although Hinata is an exception" Well he was right about that one, besides even if the meals were free, Naruto knew Neji would insist on paying, which he tried to do for Hinata, but to his dismay, was unsuccessful. Hinata worked her charm on her cousin, insisting that it was okay, so this time he let it slide.

Naruto was impressed with Hinata, for a girl she ate at least two bowls, whereas he ate 4 bowls. She was just as much into ramen as much as he was which was a plus.  
Although, it kind of make him wonder where it all went. How could such a small person eat that much? He didn't know. However, Naruto noticed she was a shy person, and she spoke with much politeness. Naruto knew right away that they had probably lived completely different childhoods, however, little did he know that deep down they were the same, it would take a while before he discovered that.

The night eventually ended and all said good byes. Hinata gave Naruto the signed pamphlet of the recital, and Naruto invited Hinata to watch one of his games, and she shyly agreed. Tenten thought the interaction between Naruto and Hinata was adorable. Neji on the other hand would have to have a 'talk' with his friend about fancying his cousin, as overprotective as he was. Hinata was at the peak of her career which was fortunately something that she loved doing, and involving a romance may be good or bad, she may just have to take the risk. And, Naruto thought this was a start of a beautiful friendship.

So Naruto went to bed that night, and had a peaceful nights rest.  
This could definitely go somewhere.

* * *

What do you guys think? Please review! & I'll update as soon as i can!  
If there are grammar errors and such, I'm sorry! . I wanted to get this chapter out after a month and half or so & so I can get to doing my homework without itching to finish this chapter.  
EDIT: Fixed some wordings, grammar. .


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